A direct contact with Children and Youth Centre "Galaxy" of Kaluga via RK3X was successful 2014-03-01 11:12 UTC.

A direct contact with Polytechnic College Number 42, Russia, on Space Experiments "Gagarin of the Cosmos" via UB3AFD was successful Sat 2014-02-22 13:40 UTC.__________________________________________________________________________

Melbourne Grammar School – Grimwade House is a co-educational Primary School with 650 students aged from 5 to 12 years old. Grimwade House bases its education on the Australian Curriculum. One of the Major Learning Areas outlined in the Australian Curriculum is Science. Grimwade House is fortunate to have a purpose built Science room and a teacher who is dedicated to and passionate about the teaching of Science. All students from Prep to Year 4 have one lesson of Science per week and Year 5 and Year 6 students have a double lesson of Science each fortnight.

Lesson topics: - Students investigate features of the Earth’s interior - Students investigate the relative distances of the planets in our solar system - Students investigate constellations seen in the night skies in the Southern Hemisphere - Students investigate shadows and their relationship to light sources in Space - Students investigate propulsion - Students investigate insulation and other elements astronauts need to consider when exploring our place in Space.___________________________________________________________________________________________________

March 21, 2014

Ham Video Blank Transmissions Planning

Presently, Ham Video is transmitting permanently a "blank" image and no audio in configuration 3:

ARISS antenna 43

Frequency 2395 MHz

Symbol rate 1.3 Ms/s

Transmission will continue in this configuration till the end of the week. On Sunday March 23, Ham Video will start transmitting in configuration 4, i.e. 2395MHz and 2.0 Ms/s.

Forest Knolls Elementary School is a PreK-5 school in Silver Spring, MD, about 8 miles outside of Washington, DC. We are also only a few miles away from NASA Goddard Space Center in Beltsville, MD.

The school has over 700 students with a very diverse ethnic population with students from 18 countries. There are 16 different languages spoken, and about one-third of the students are Hispanic.

It has an inclusion program for physically disabled students. We also have a Communication Arts program, in which the students focus on Research, Written Communication and Media Production. Susan Michal, magnet coordinator, integrates this program into all classrooms at all grade levels.

There is a school amateur radio station, KB3WOA, which holds an after school club under the direction of one of the teachers, Melissa Happ, KB3VEX and her husband, Tom Happ, KJ4YFH. There are about 15 students involved in the after school club. The radio station is also used with classes, at various grade levels, as part of the curriculum in Social Studies and Communication.__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The mission of the Warren Consolidated Schools (WCS) district, in partnership with families and community, is to achieve a level of excellence in teaching and learning which enables all students to become knowledgeable, productive, ethical, and successful citizens. To help meet that goal, WCS supports programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which give students a real hands-on experience in education.

The Middle School Mathematics Science Technology Center [(MS)2TC] has been built on the Warren Consolidated Schools district's internationally successful high school, the Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center (MMSTC). While the high school program integrates seamlessly mathematics, science and technology, the middle school program integrates mathematics, science and informational literacy (reading and writing) with technology infused into each area. Both programs provide students with real-world, project-based learning activities that challenge their thinking, broadens their understanding of the world, and stretches their knowledge base while meeting the developmental needs of the students they serve.

The (MS)2TC student population consists of students from five different middle schools within the WCS district while the MMSTC student population draws from eleven different school districts within the county of Macomb in southeastern Michigan. Both schools serve a diverse community of students who come from various socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

The program goals of the MMSTC and (MS)2TC are to research, design, implement, and develop a powerful, unique learning environment and experience for high achieving students at the middle school and high school level that integrates mathematics, science, English language arts, and technology. To achieve this goal we have created a curriculum framework based upon the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) which integrates mathematics and literacy standards mirrored in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).____________________________________________________________________________________________________

HJ Cambie Secondary is a public school in the Richmond School District in British Columbia. We enroll approximately 700 students from grade 8-12. Cambie is comprised of a diverse cultural population of students. The student population of Cambie is composed of many different cultures along with thirty different language groups – 67% of our student population speaks a language other than English at home.

Cambie students are known for being strong leaders in our community. We offer a variety of courses in Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, the Arts, Business Ed, Athletics, and Modern Languages. Cambie has a thriving Leadership program that begins in Gr 8 with our Pathways program. Students in our leadership program give back a great deal to our community and fundraise for local charities. We have a strong Health Science program with work experience opportunities for our students and First responder training. In addition, Cambie has a world-class robotics club who competed at the World Robotics Championships last year in Orlando.

Cambie students are comparing the uniqueness of the ARISS contact to the first steps on the moon! This is a once in a lifetime experience for them and big on the "coolness factor"!!! We feel like we have won the lottery! This opportunity has brought a new energy to our classrooms. The staff and students are engaging in learning on levels that transcend the classroom walls. Music classes are performing space theme songs, computer CADD classes are designing digital mission patches, foods classes are learning about nutrition in space and our Health Science students are discussing how physiology is affected with space travel! The engagement opportunities the ARISS contact has provided our school are endless. We are celebrating the March 2014 ARISS contact with a 1.5 hour live show with speakers from MDA (makers of the Canadarm) and Urthecast (who’s cameras were just installed on the ISS), and interactive shows from Science World and the HR MacMillan Science Centre. Our ARISS contact is being video simulcast to a second gym in our school (where many elementary students are also joining us), and broadcast to the web where other schools across the district (and world) will be watching the live video feed!____________________________________________________________________________________________________

March 12, 2014

Ham Video Commissioning Steps 1 and 2 Successful

The Ham Video transmitter commissioning steps 1 and 2 were performed as planned. Working together with ESA / B.USOC, the ARISS team in Matera did an excellent job. On Saturday March 8, 4 configurations were tested with antenna 41. On Sunday March 9, 6 configurations were tested with antenna 43.

Read the latest HamTV Bulletin for more details and information on future plans..

On Saturday March 8, 2014 ESA proceeded to step 1 of the Ham Video Commissioning process. Michael Hopkins KF5LJG operated the Ham Video transmitter while an ARISS team received the DATV signals at the VLBI station in Matera, Italy.

ARISS has permission to use the 20m dish of the VLBI telescope in southern Italy for HamVideo commissioning. Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is a radio astronomy technique which uses an international chain of ground stations. The 20m dish is part of the Centre for Space Geodesy (CGS) of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

Using the Matera dish, S-band DATV can be received for 8 minutes during a pass of the ISS. This time is needed for testing the Ham Video transmitter in different configurations.

During the Saturday pass, the configurations were tested with ARISS antenna 41 with good results. On Sunday March 9, the configurations were tested with ARISS antenna 43, also with excellent results.

Presently the Ham Video transmitter is running permanently without camera. Amateur operators are invited to file reception reports of this "blank" transmission.

Rock Bridge Elementary School is a K-5 public school operating within the Columbia Public School District. It is located in Columbia, Missouri. The school offers a core curriculum, with emphasis on science, technology, and math. Rock Bridge has a strong belief that in order to prepare students for success in the 21st century, today’s learners must be able to think critically and creatively, work collaboratively, and master an ever growing list of skills. The student body is made up of 672 students from all over the Boone County, Missouri area. The school has 24 classroom teachers, 6 special area teachers, 5 teaching assistants in addition to 2 pre-school teachers. The school’s mission is to cultivate learners and leaders who are inspired, able, and prepared to make a positive difference in the world.___________________________________________________________________________________________________

March 3, 2014

A direct contact between astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG and students at Central Square Middle School, Central Square, NY, USA was successful 2014-03-03 14:05:15 UTC 31 deg.Because of technical difficulties, students were able only to receive replies for two questions.

An advance story about the planned contact is available at: http://www.oswegocountyweeklies.com/citizenoutlet.php?details&story_id=12962&story_year=2014&story_month=3

The Central Square Middle School (CSMS) has approximately 1000 students in grades 6, 7, and 8. CSMS is actually 3 schools within a school that function on their own. Each school has grades 6, 7, and 8 and is identified as House 1, House 2, or House 3. Students are assigned to a grade-level team within a house.

Students in grades 7 and 8 can participate in interscholastic athletics of many types. There are also many clubs that all grade levels can participate in throughout the year including (to name a few) Leadership (Student Government), Fishing Club, Chess Club and Amateur Radio Club.Amateur Radio Club, KC2ILA, has been active at CSMS for more than two decades. We acquired our call sign in 2001, but used our club advisor’s call sign before that. Over the years we have been involved in various electronic construction projects, KC2ILA is always a presence on the air during School Club Roundup in February, and we are always tracking spacecraft carrying Amateur Radios.

Over the years several students have spoken with astronauts on space shuttles and students at CSMS spoke with 5 of the 7 NASA astronauts and several cosmonauts, who resided on the Mir Space Station. In September 1994 CSMS organized a scheduled contact between astronauts on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-64) and students from 8 school districts in Central New York. The radios for the contact were located at the Museum of Science and Technology (MoST) in Syracuse, NY.

In the spring of 2013 several club members worked on preparing the application for another scheduled contact, this time with the International Space Station. We are hoping this conversation goes as well as our first scheduled contact!

Archives

About

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station is a program that lets students experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crew members of the International Space Station. Learn More